Vegetable blanching apparatus



Aug. 8, 1950 w. A. TEN EYCK VEGETABLE BLANCHING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 6, 1944 Zm-imib Aug. 8, 1950 A w. A. TEN EYCK 2,517,942

\ VEGETABLE BLANCHING APPARATUS Filed June 6, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 v I 22 r 3 l I/ U 12 6/ A wm H. Tenl'ycb Patented Aug. 8, 3950 UNITED STATES FATE OFFICE 2,517,942. VEGETABLEBIIANCHINGAPPARATUS William A'nTeniE'yck; SacrainentogzCa-lifr, assign'or to Bercut-Bich'ards.Packing 'Gompany; Sacramento.- .Calif.,. acorporation. of: California.

Applicationulune-G; 1944; Serial No:- 538,891 lnlaimf (o1. 1s4: 1os- This invention' is di rected togand it is' an obejjectt to provide, improvements in blanching ap paratus for vegetables, particularly: asparagus; preparatory: to canning: or otherwise processing thee-same;v such apparatus: being operative. to simu staneously: and? continuously convey; .bl'anch; ancb wash-:the: vegetables. being processed;

' Acfurther objecti'of: this..invention.'is .tolprorvi-de:

an. improved: vegetables: blanching: apparatus; whichrfincludes aneiongatedrfiume.through which or. stream of. steameheated: water continually flows at a predetermined and.contro-lled teme perature; as..well as.=at aregulated velocity; the vegetables: to be blanched". being introduced into. the..-tr0ugh at. one end,.thence moving;. with: the. flowing, stream. of. heated. water. thereinto the other end of the trough, and finally being. re.-.- moved... from the trough at. said other. end. for further... processing; the velocity. of... the stream audits temperature being.correlatedsothat the vegetables are properly blanchedupon their. arrival at the point of removal from the trough.

A'n additionalobject -of this inventionis to heat the" water" in the trough throughout the length of the latter; such heating means" comprising steam pipes'in-the bottom of'thetrough; said pipes having steam escape orificesv therein whereby escaping steam not only heats the" streamof water but also agitates it;- whereby the turbulence causes more uniform blanching to'-,

gether with a washing or the vegetablesiloatihg inesaid stream;

It is also an object of the instant invention to provide l a: method: of blanching zvegetables :which comprises: the; steps of 1 establishing, a stream. of flowing, ,heatedwater, maintaining said stream at. an predetermined temperature. and velocity, in:- troducing vegetables into-the stream at a point adjacent-:its head end, removingthe vegetables from. the. streamat another. and ,spaced. point, andaagitating the..stream. between said" points; the distance between said pointsbeing such-that the time requiredfor the vegetables in said flowingstream toreach the point of removalis predeterminedlto be the time necessary toaccoma plish proper. blanchingof the. vegetables.

A iurther object of the invention is to provide a.v simple and inexpensive. vegetable blanching method and. apparatus, and .yet one which .will. be.exceedinglyeifective.for the purpose. for. which itlis designed.

Theseiobje'ctsl accomplish bymeans of such structure and relative arrangement of." parts as? will fully "appear by a" perusal: of the" following specification and claim.

In the drawings similar characters or refer-'-- ence indicate correspondingpartsin theseveral' views:

Figure 1 is a': planview; mainly diagrammatic; of the apparatus embodying the present invention; the=trough-covers being removed;

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional" elevation on line 22"of Fig. 1,' ill'ustrating the headend cf thetroughtogether with the water supply and-"water return pipes.

Figure3' is an enlarged cross section on'li'ne' 3 -3 of. Fig;' 1; illustrating the shape of" the trough and; the position of the steam pipe-therein;

Figure 4 1s an enlarged, fragmentary sectional elevation on'line' il of Fig. 1, illustratingthe" discharge end of thetrough and related parts.

Referring now more particularly; to the char acters of 'reference'on the drawings, the apparatus comprises a horizontally disposedj elongated troughl, preferably of U-shape in order'to reduce the floor space required for'such'apparatus. The? trough l' is of tapered configuration in cross section; with the sidewalls extending in upward and outwardly diverging relation, as clearly shown in Fig: 3. Thetrough I is normally closed from end to end by' means of removable top" covers 2; and such trough is supportedfromithe floor 'at. spaced points .by means of legs 3;

A" relatively short,' horizontally disposed receiving trough. 4 is supported by legs5' adjacent and parallel'to one end portion of the'trough.l on. the outside of; the latter.. The receiving trough Ais connectedcentrally of' its code andon the sidenear the trough lwith the adjacent end of the latter by means of a lateral "or connecting" troughs; An upstanding, deflector plate l 'extend'sacrossthe receiving trough 4- centrally of. itsends and'into the lateral'trough Bin symmetrical'l relation to and'between the sids of the latter.

A pair ofv endless driven. conveyors ,CL' of con! ventionalbonstruction are mounted substantially horizontal. and for. discharge into. the..rec eiving trough l fiom above. the 'same. and..'adjacent oppositeends thereof; the conveyors .C. in the :present embodimentiserving.assorting and gradingtablesr The end of the trough I which connects with the lateral trough 6 is the head end of said trough. while the opposite end is the discharge; said discharge end portion of the trough being formed with an upwardly inclined bottom portion 8, as clearly shown in Fig. 4; such forwardly inclined bottom portion of the trough serving to establish and maintain the water level L in said trough, as will hereinafter appear.

The discharge end of trough I overhangs the upper run of an endless, longitudinally extending carry-off conveyor 9 driven with said upper run moving in a direction away from the trough I such driven carry-off conveyor being supported at its ends by drums, one of which is shown at Ill. The conveyor 9 is perforate to permit-the passage of water therethrough, and a catch pan II is disposed between the upper and lower runs of said conveyor below the discharge end of trough I; said catch pan being disposed laterally at an incline and arranged to discharge into a water tank I2.

The trough I, together with the receiving trough 4, is initially filled with hot water to the water line L by means of a depending water feed pipe I3 disposed to discharge into the receiving trough 4 adjacent one end thereof; the water from said feed pipe being heated, as it flows toward the trough 4, by means of steam injected through a mixing fitting I4 from a steam pipe I5; the pipes I3 and I5 including flow control valves I6 and I1 therein, respectively. The valves I6 and I! are set, after the troughs I and 4, together with the tank I2, have been filled with water, so as to admit only sufficient additional water to compensate for operating loss.

The flow of water from receiving trough 4 through trough I, in the direction indicated by the arrows, is maintained, and at predetermined velocity, by means of a pump I8 driven b a variable speed mc-tor IS; the pump I8 drawing water from the tank I2 and delivering such water through a return pipe 20, which includes branches or laterals 2I which discharge into the receiving trough 4 at opposite ends thereof. It will thus be seen that b means of this arrangement the water in the apparatus is constantly recirculated and that by regulating the output of pump I8 the flow velocity in trough I can be effectively controlled. As the water escapes from the discharge end of the trough I over the lip of the upwardly inclined bottom portion -8, it falls through the upper run of conveyor 9 onto the catch pan II and thence is returned to tank I2.

The circulating water in'the trough I, as well as in the trough 4, is maintained at a predetermined and constant heat by means of the following arrangement:

In the bottom of trough I throughout its length and in receiving trough 4 are steam pipes 22 which are formed, along the length thereof, with a multiplicity of steam escape perforations or ports 23 of relatively small diameter. Steam is fed to the pipes 22 by means of a suppl pipe 24 which leads from a boiler 25; the pipe 24 being branched with one branch 26 leading beneath the trough I and the other branch 21 leading beneath the trough 4. Laterals 28, including hand valves 29, connect the branches 26 anclZl with the corresponding steam pipes 22 in the respective troughs.

The flow of steam through pipe 24 into branches 26 and 21, and consequently into steam pipes 22 is automatically regulated by means of a temperature gauge and thermostatic control unit 30 which includes a heat responsive member 3| projecting into the trough I, and a control conduit 32 which leads to a valve 33 in supply pipe 24. The unit 30 is set so as to admit suificient steam into the pipes 22 to maintain a predetermined tempera ture of the water in the troughs.

When the apparatus is in use asparagus or other vegetables are discharged from the endless conveyors C into the receiving trough 4, from whence they flow with the stream of water introduced by the branches 2| of pipe 20, into the trough l. The vegetables then traverse the entire length of said trough I, being carried along by the heated stream of water therein. The temperature of the water and its velocity are regulated so that b the time the vegetables reach the discharge end of trough I said vegetables have been blanched to the extent desired. The steam injected into the stream of water in the trough I from the perforations 23 in pipes 22 not only maintains said stream at the desired temperature, but causes an agitation or turbulence. This turbulence is advantageous for the reason that it not only produces movement of the vegetables and consequently more effective blanching, but also results in a desirable washing or cleaning of the vegetables.

When the blanched vegetables reach the discharge end of trough I they flow over the lip of the inclined bottom portion 8 and fall onto the upper run of the perforate carry-off conveyor 9 for further grading and processing. The water now from said discharge end of the trough falls through said upper run of conveyor 9, as previously explained, and is returned by the catch pan II to the hot water tank I2.

With the above described apparatus and method of blanching vegetables a uniform result can be obtained, and as the process is continuous it is well adapted to uninterrupted handling operations.

The troughs, as well as the tank I2, can be drained when desired by means of drain pipes 34 and 35 which discharge into a gutter 36 in the floor.

A steam ejector may be used in connection with the return tank in lieu of the water pump as a means of further regulating the flow of water, and controlling the temperature thereof. This would eliminate any possibility of a shutdown due to failure of the pump.

From the foregoing description it will be readily seen that I have produced such a vegetable blanching method and apparatus as substantially fulfills the objects of the invention as set forth herein.

While this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferred construction of the method and apparatus, still in practice such deviations from such detail may be resorted to as do not form a departure from the spirit of the invention, as defined by the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and useful and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

Vegetable blanching apparatus comprising an elongated trough, said trough being closed at its head end and formed with a spillway at its discharge end, a water circulating system arranged to establish and maintain a stream of flowing water in the trough, said system including means to catch the stream below said spillway, means to heat the stream of water, means to introduce vegetables into the stream adjacent the head end of the trough, and means to remove the vegetables from the stream adjacent said spillway; said vegetable introducing means comprising a separate receiving trough disposed adjacent the head end of said elongated trough, a connecting trough disposed between the ends of said receiving trough leading to and communicating with the elongated trough, the stream originating part in one end and part in the other end of the receiving trough, means in the latter to deflect said parts of the stream into the connecting trough, and means to deposit vegetables in said receiving trough on opposite sides of said connecting trough.

WILLIAM A. TEN EYCK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

